Even Blizzard Isn't Sure How to Save the RTS Genre, but MOBAs Might Help

During an interview with Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void Lead Producer Tim Morten, GameSpot asked about the waning popularity of the the real-time strategy genre, and if Blizzard has a plan to make it more appealing to a wider audience in the future.

In short, even Blizzard, whose StarCraft and Warcraft games helped define the genre, doesn't have a clear answer, but it hopes that the popularity of MOBAs like Dota 2 and League of Legends is a good sign.

"We talk a lot about that internally and there's a hope on my part that the audience that's playing Heroes of the Storm, that's playing MOBA games, will be interested in feeding into more complex gameplay," Morten said. "In a way that's a gateway to what RTS is, and of course grew out of RTS in the first place. I hope there's some synergy there."

Morten added that part of the problem is that RTS games have a steep learning curve, and that Blizzard is trying to address that issue as it's revisiting the tutorial and training missions from the previous games in Legacy of the Void.

Additionally, Blizzard hopes that players will be less intimidated to play online with Legacy of the Void's Archon Mode, a brand new cooperative mode where two players share control of a single base and units.

"But there's a lot more thinking that I'd like to do. it may wind up being the case that it becomes the focus of something in the future, but it is something that we'd like to figure out how to solve. I wish I could say we knew what the magic bullet was."

Blizzard has not yet announced a release date for Legacy of the Void, the third, final, and standalone expansion in the StarCraft II trilogy. You can sign up for the game's beta today at Battle.net.